A Hanyou
by Kit Wit Issues
Summary: Basically Sesshoumaru Comes accorss a very beautiful Hanyou female... and she, like every one elese in the story line of Inuyasha has her beef with Naraku and wants him dead
1. Amiss

"Rin," said Sesshoumaru in his usual cold emotionless monotone voice. "Yes Lord Sesshoumaru?" She replied cheerfully, standing up from beside the camp fire. "Stay here with Jaken," he ordered. "But lord Sesshoumaru!" The toadish whined "where are you going?" "There is something amiss about the air here, I feel the need to look into it," said the demon lord, pacing in the clearing. The previous night they had come to this point to rest because neither Jaken nor Sesshoumaru could detect any other presence. "The scent of a hanyou lingers in the air. Do you not smell it Jaken?" "No, do you smell your brother, my lord?" The toadish asked. "No, this is something else; something I do not recognize," and with that Sesshoumaru departed.  
To relieve his boredom during Sesshoumaru's absence, Jaken tried to explain various things to the ever youthful Rin. As usual, she would ask a question but never pay attention to the answer. Jaken had learned not to mind it by now, and he honestly just liked to talk to hear his own voice. Rin, however, occupied herself by playing with Ah and Un, and searching the area near the clearing for various things to eat.

Sesshoumaru zoomed through the forest, keeping his acute eyes open for the cause of his unease. He came upon a clearing about a mile or few away from where he left Jaken and Rin. In this clearing was a crystal clear lake with hot springs on its far side. Sesshoumaru noticed, sitting in one of the hot springs, a hanyou female bathing. Sesshoumaru was nothing like the lecherous monk, Miroku, therefore he felt no need to stay and watch. But he, being male, couldn't help but notice her extreme beauty. The demon lord was annoyed at the presence of a hanyou so near him. But since he had assessed her to be no threat, and she hadn't provoked him or stood in his way, he soon departed back to his waiting cronies and went about his business.  
Unknown to Sesshoumaru, the hanyou had become aware of his presence shortly before he entered the clearing. Kanai was her name and she was truly beautiful. She had dark metallic hair, silvery eyes, and the pointed ears shared by the majority of demons. Demonic markings accented her facial features similar to the way they did Sesshoumaru's. If not for her scent, she could easily be mistaken for a full-fledged demon. She took little heed of his presence and made a point not to make it known she was aware of it. Modesty wasn't one of her strongest attributes. She had the features of a maiden between the ages of 17 and 20, however she was actually a bit older than that.

Kanai knew of the demon lord called Sesshoumaru, though she had never before encountered him. She didn't know it was he, however, who had stumbled upon her place of current rest. Kanai knew relatively little about the demon lord except that he was to be feared by humans and hanyous.

As Sesshoumaru zigged and zagged through the trees returning to Rin and Jaken his mind was elsewhere. As it was, he had a lot to think about; with his brother battling that hanyou bastard Naraku, and his incarnation Kagura making her presence known for what ever reason, and then slipping out of sight. Now this hanyou female found her way into his concentration. The demon lord was definitely not the type to be swayed by the beauty of a female. Human, demon or hanyou. But he couldn't help but feel compelled to return to the lake.


	2. Kanai

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken yelled at the sight of his master "Did you find the hanyou? Did you slay it?" The toadish asked. 

The demon lord chose not to answer him. When he returned, he found Jaken waiting impatiently by the fire, and Rin more than half asleep by Ah and Un. Sesshoumaru strode up to the beast and lightly roused Rin. She wasn't sleeping hard and all it took to wake her was a gentle nudge with his booted foot. 

"Lord Sesshoumaru, you have returned!" she greeted. 

"I take it you fared well?" Came his reply. "Have you eaten today?" he asked. Rin answered with a simple "Yes," and Sesshoumaru told her to go back to sleep.

The demon lord told Jaken they would be departing in the morning and that she should be getting some rest.  
Sesshoumaru was once again deep in thought as they traveled east toward the lake. He was curious as to whether or not the woman hanyou was still there. He was even more curious as to how she would react to the presence of a human child such as Rin.  
Sesshoumaru had grown quite fond of Rin. But he knew her limitations as a human, and he was concerned about what image was being pinned to him for traveling with a human child,  
and although he would never let this aspect slip into the knowledge of anyone, demon or human, he was concerned for her safety. He knew he would not always be able to protect her, and he didn't want to see her put into danger. Sesshoumaru was in need of someone dependable to take care of her.

  
  
Sesshoumaru had neglected to tell Jaken and Rin what he had seen the previous evening. Simply that he had discovered a large water source that Ah and Un from which Ah and Un could drink. For the demon lord, it was but a few minutes from where they had made camp, but Rin and Jaken were far slower, and thus the journey took much longer. Sesshoumaru was ahead some meters, but stayed withing ear-shot of his groupies.  
The clearing hadn't even come into view of the group before Kanai smelled them. She recognized one scent to be that of the demon who had come to the lake the previous night, but she did not however recognize the scents of the two who followed him, save that one was a human.

"Considering this demon travels with a human, there is no way he could be a threat" Kanai thought to herself. 

With that in mind, she felt no need to hide.  
When Sesshoumaru and co. entered the clearing, they found Kanai staring straight at them. 

"Who are you demon?" She asked with a soft, yet assertive tone. "And why do you feel compelled to disturb me for a second time in two days?" 

By now it was mid-day and Sesshoumaru really didn't feel like being interrogated. 

"How dare you be so insolent?!" Blurted the toadish. "This is The Great Lord Sesshoumaru" he continued, only to be struck hard on the head by the demon lord.

  
  
"Shut up Jaken," Sesshoumaru said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

He then directed his attention to Kanai.

"As the imp said, my name is Sesshoumaru. I am the lord of the western lands," as he said this, he noticed her reaction to his name.

The hanyou kept eye contact with him as he spoke. She knew of his distaste for hanyous and wasn't sure if she should fear him or not.

"I assure you that there is no need to fear me," Sesshoumaru confirmed. "You have not as of yet provoked my wrath."

Rin stood quite a few feet back throughout this conversation. She was amazed at the beauty of the being to whom Sesshoumaru was speaking.  
Kanai thought for a second and concluded that she didn't believe she was actually in the presence of the demon lord she had herd about.

"I had heard that the great Lord Sesshoumaru bore a strong dislike for humans and hanyous" she stated bluntly. "So why is it that you seek me out and travel with a human child?"

Rin took notice of that last comment, suddenly becoming aware that it was her that she was referring to.

"Don't worry little one," Kanai said in a much softer tone. "I bare no grudge ageists any of you. Simply scepticism" she said that last word in a deeper tone directing it toward the two demons.

"I am Sesshoumaru of the western lands, and if you don't believe me, and are accusing me of being a liar, than..." remembering Rin's presence, the demon lord didn't finish his sentence.

But although Sesshoumaru was many things, he was defiantly no liar. And he took offence at being called one.

"If you are indeed who you say you are than no doubt you have come hear for a reason." Kanai added, the moment the demon lord stopped speaking.

Sesshoumaru didn't hear this however, and thus didn't answer. He was by now deep in thought again. He had been thinking a lot as of late, and Rin and Jaken had begun to notice. He hadn't planned to make his identity known to this hanyou so quickly, but his failure to inform Jaken of such a plan had foiled it. The demon lord continued to stare into space. He was vary disturbed by his lack of forethought, it wasn't like him. Neither was staring into oblivion while in the presence of his underlings, let alone a hanyou, he hardly knew, and in the midst of a conversation no less!

"Sesshoumaru sama?" Rin asked, trying to get his attention.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken repeated, snapping the demon lord form his daze. "This hanyou wishes to know why we have sought her out." Jaken continued.

"We did not seek you out" Sesshoumaru answered Kanai. "My beast requires water and this is the location of a lake I noted yesterday."

To Sesshoumaru this was not a lie, Ah and Un did in fact require water. He simply neglected to reveal all his motives.

"There is more to it than that Lord Sesshoumaru!" Kanai blurted. She was no fool and she knew when she was being played.

"And what mite that be?" He ask in response.

Had this been any other hanyou, and Rin not there, Sesshoumaru would have long since destroyed Kanai for her disrespect. But the demon lord kept his temper in check while in Rin's presence.

"Next time you want to make allegations, think first if you have something to back them up." And with that, he finished and ignored any thing she said to him afterwards. 


	3. Windy Conversation

It had been several hours since the group arrived at the lake, and since Sesshoumaru made no indication they would be leaving any time soon, the two shortest of the four prepared to stay the night. Kanai didn't like being ignored and made several futile attempts to reestablish communication with the demon lord, but to no avail.  
Then to her surprise she was approached by Rin.

"What's your name?" She asked, in her mellowest tone.

The little girl enthusiastically told Kanai that her name was Rin.

"And who are you?" Rin asked in a secondary reply.

"You may call me Kanai," she told the little girl.

Sesshoumaru watched the two females with grate interest. Once again thinking to himself. He was fascinated with the way Rin would ask a question, and then patiently wait for an answer. She never did this when conversing with himself or Jaken. The manner in which Kanai spoke to Rin also intrigued him. To be honest. Almost every aspect of their conversation was not necessarily new, but certainly uncommon for him to witness.  
But the Great Lord Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, had something else on his mind. Not even he could help but notice how truly beautiful Kanai really was. This was another opinion he kept completely to himself. And the anger he first felt toward her for disrespecting him gradually developed into respect. He figured she was either extremely brave or very ignorant. 

"But she is a hanyou!" Sesshoumaru reminded himself.

"Sesshoumaru sama?" Rin asked, interrupting his train of thought. "Lady Kanai told me to inform you that we are going to be getting in the hot-spring and that you and master Jaken should go elsewhere."

At first Sesshoumaru was reluctant to leave Rin with this hanyou but after a moment he realized that no matter what he said to convey this to the girl, she would be disappointed at not being allowed to join Kanai in the spring, and so the demon lord just nodded his head and he and Jaken departed into the forest as the two females climbed into the spring.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken gasp.

"What is it Jaken?" came the demon lord's reply.

"That scent, do you not smell it?" The toadish ask. "The smell of that hanyou bastard Naraku lingers in the air." Jaken continued.

With this knowledge Sesshoumaru quickly dashed back in the direction of Rin and Kanai.

"Jaken, are you sure you smell Naraku?" he asked.

Normally, Sesshoumaru's sense of smell was far greater than Jaken's.

"Yes my lord." came the toadish's answer.

And with the imp's confirmation, Sesshoumaru stopped to smell the air for a moment. It was the smell Naraku, but it was faint to him.

"Jaken, why is it that you can smell Naraku so clearly, yet I can hardly detect the scent of anything?"

but before the toadish had a chance to answer, it had become clear to the demon lord that he could smell neither Rin nor Kanai's scent in the air.  
Sesshoumaru and Jaken had stopped in a clearing about ten minutes sprint from the lake.

"Jaken, my sense if smell is being dulled, tell me every thing you smell." Commanded the demon lord.

"Well my lord, I smell only Rin, that Hanyou wench... and Naraku! Naraku's scent is approaching fast and from above." Jaken answered.

"From above you say? It must be his detachment Kagura, the wind sorceress," Sesshoumaru deducted.Indeed it was Kagura, on her feather approaching from the north. Naraku had sent her to spy on the demon lord. But his acute sense of smell, and other means of detection were more than great enough to prevent himself from being monitored. This made Kagura's task difficult and she had lost track of him some time ago.  
But she had recently acquired a type of mystic powder that clouded the scene of smell that most dogs possessed. It was used by bandits and escaped prisoners to evade capture. Inevitably, its properties were concentrated and straightened by Naraku to be affective on a dog demon such as Inuyasha and his borther.Kagura was unaware she had been detected, and Sesshoumaru was actually interested in knowing why she had sought him out. With his clawed hand resting in the hilt of Toukijin, he strode confidently in the direction Jaken had indicated she was approaching. Sesshoumaru's mind wasn't on Rin or Kanai at the moment, now he was focused on Kagura. She had never been a threat, but she was closely tied to Naraku and that alone made her untrustworthy.  
By now his stride had become a sprint, and poor Jaken was left chasing after him. Noticing Sesshoumaru's speedy advance in her direction, Kagura suddenly became aware that she had been detected.

"Curse you Naraku! This Antinu powder you've conjured up has failed!" she exclaimed.

"My lord!" gasped the toadish, still catching his breath. 

"What is it Jaken?" came Sesshoumaru's retort.

"We are close enough to her now that I can smell her presence, she is on the ground," the demon lord continued, not giving the toadish a chance to answer him.

They had been moving in a direction away from the lake and had stopped some ways away from it.  
Kagura was at a loss as to what to do. Sesshoumaru knew she was following him, and he was close. She figured she could do one of two things, she could confront him and inform the demon lord of Naraku's orders for her to follow him,(orders she was oddly pleased to receive) or she could return to the castle and inform Naraku of the failure of the Antinu powder.  
The latter of the two choices was soon eliminated however;

"wind sorceress Kagura! Show yourself and tell me why you're here," came Sesshoumaru's calm voice through the trees.

"Just doing as ordered," she replied, stepping through the trees into his direction.

"And what might that be wench?!" Jaken yelled at her.

Kagura noticed him standing prepared to fry her with that staph of his. "Go ahead, cook me to the bone," she smirked.

The toadish tried to obey the order only to have his own flames blown back in his face.

"Sesshoumaru, you knew that would happen, didn't you?"

the demon lord simply nodded. "So why then didn't you warn him?" she inquired.

Without answering, Sesshoumaru drew Tenseiga  
and revived the now crispy Jaken.

"I see," said Kagura smugly. "In any case, I was instructed by my master Naraku to follow and keep tabs on you. A difficult task I assure you," she continued.

In light of the apparent compliment, Sesshoumaru was at unease. He wasn't afraid of her. But he could sense she was up too more than just following him, and he wanted to know how she had managed to cloud his sense of smell and remain undetected for as long as she had. 

"Tell me, wind sorceress, why couldn't I smell your approach until you were so close to me?" The demon lord inquired.

As he spoke, he paced around her, keeping her firmly within striking range. Kagura paced around a bit in return before answering.

"Its called Antinu powder, something Naraku cooked up. It's supposed to completely mask ones scent. It worked flawlessly on your hanyou brother InuYasha, but you it would seem, a full fledged demon were able to smell through it after a time."

She decided later to inform her master of that last small lie... In truth, she had seen neither hide nor hair of Sesshoumaru's brother in quite some time.


	4. History Revealed

Kanai and Rin still sat in the hot-spring, making girlish conversation.

"Lady Kanai, why haven't Lord Sesshoumaru and Master Jaken returned yet?" Ask Rin from within the spring.

Before answering the little girl, Kanai stood up in all her nude beauty and sniffed the air around them. She was very disturbed that she could smell neither of the mails, nor any thing else.

"Rin, stay hear with Ah and Un," the female hanyou instructed the now confused little girl.

Kanai quickly dressed herself and took off in the direction the two males had departed earlier. Some thing was defiantly amiss and she couldn't smell any thing. She didn't know what it was, but she could feel something was out of place. Although Kanai couldn't sprint as fast as Sesshoumaru, she did make good pace.

Sesshoumaru felt it unwise to inform Kagura that it had actually been Jaken who alerted him to her presence.

"To what avail have you used this Antinu Powder on my brother?" The demon lord assertively asked.

Kagura had suddenly become bored with the inquiry, and so without answering him, she made a hurried retreat on her feather.  
The demon lord had actually expected the wind sorceress to make such an escape, so he made no attempt to hinder it when he so easily could have. But he was now quite curious as to what Naraku was up to and how it concerned InuYasha.  
Kagura was now some distance from Sesshoumaru, so the air was clear of her powder. Kanai quickly picked up Sesshoumaru's scent and caught up with him.  
She found him and the toadish walking calmly in the direction of the lake. She also detected the lingering scent of Kagura, a scent she knew all too well...

"Sesshoumaru!" Kanai yelled as the demon lord came into view.

It was almost dawn and they were about 20 minutes stride from the lake.  
Rin had been alone with Ah and Un for quite some time now. She was accustomed to being alone with the beast, though she usually had Jaken to accompany her.

"I wonder where Lady Kanai and Lord Sesshoumaru have gone" she thought aloud.

As she was saying this, in came the pair followed by a rather distressed Jaken.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Kanai was yelling at him as they entered the clearing. "Tell me what you know about the demon who's sent that belongs!"

Sesshoumaru was still trying to ignore her though. Rin didn't like what she was seeing. She liked Kanai and she liked Sesshoumaru, she didn't want to see them at odds.  
Sesshoumaru himself was finding it rather difficult to not respond to Kanai's yells. Jaken surprisingly was keeping quiet. But when Sesshoumaru saw Rin's dismay toward him and Kanai's state of offensiveness, he spoke.

"The scent is that of demon wind sorceress calling herself Kagura. She is an incarnation of a surprisingly powerful hanyou. He told me at our first meeting that his name was Naraku."

Kanai never broke eye contact with the demon lord as he told her this, even though she vaguely knew who Naraku was already. Jaken was surprised to his master give in to and speak to this insulant hanyou.

"Master Jaken, you look disappointed to see Lady Kanai and Lord Sesshoumaru speaking," inquired the little girl.

Jaken gave no answer and just wandered over to Ah and Un. Rin, however, was very pleased to see them converse, though their conversation she found quite boring. Kanai was continuing to interrogate the demon lord, but not to any real avail. This is mostly because he didn't know a great deal more than he was telling her.  
Sesshoumaru finally broke Kanai's questioning by asking her something:

"Why is it hat you wish to know so much about Naraku and his incarnations?" He inquired.

Although she should have seen it coming, Kanai was completely unprepared to answer that. This is how she explained it:  
__

_My father, a human, had killed a demon with seven shards of the Shicon Jewel embedded in its body, three in its head, and one in each of its extremities. Relentlessly they fought for hours. My father eventually realized that if he could somehow remove the shards from the demon's head, it would die. I don't know how, but somehow my father reasoned that the shards in its head were the only thing keeping it alive.  
I myself was with my mother visiting friends in a near by village. I returned to find my father, half alive with the decaying carcase of the demon in our courtyard._

At this point the Sesshoumaru felt it would be a good time to interrupt.

"Hanyou, this is an interesting tale but it does not answer my question, and I don't believe a human would have the strength, even if he knew the weakness of a demon with seven shards of the Shicon Jewel, could defeat it no matter how strong he was. Rin now was quiet interested in their conversation, most notably Kanai's story. All the while, Jaken was sulking beside Ah and Un. Kanai was very offended by Sessoumaru's interruption and was even more offended that this demon who travels with a human child would accuse her of conjuring a story.

"Sesshoumaru!" She boldly interjected, "number one, I am not finished, number two, I was not there, so I have no idea how exactly my father killed the demon, other than what he toled me, and number three, let me finish and you will see why I want to know about Naraku. And my name is Kanai!"

Sesshoumaru was amazed at her gaul. In response, he simply took a step back and motioned for her to continue. Pleased at the response she got from the demon lord, Kanai promptly carried forth her story.  
__

_My father started to tell me about the battle between himself and the demon, but he died before he could reveal any details. The last thing I heard him say was a name, Naraku. I could smell very thickly the scent of the being I thought my father was referring to. Several seconds after my father's death, a wave of purplish miasma engulfed the village my castle was at the center of, killing everyone. Why I wasn't killed with the rest of them is a mystery to me. I traveled to the village ware my mother was still visiting to find a similar seen. And the same scent. I have been traveling, searching for that scent ever since._

_  
  
_There was the slightest hint of sadness in Sesshoumaru's expression. So slight in fact that only Kanai picked up on it. Though she kept that observation to herself. Several seconds passed. 

"I'm sorry," the demon lord quietly responded.

"Wench! What spell have you placed on Lord Sesshoumaru!?" came Jaken's abrupt breaking of the stillness.

The toadish was so completely shocked to hear those words uttered from his master's lips. Rin didn't hear the demon lord's show of sympathy, so she was once again confused. But she simply shrugged it off.

"Shut up Jaken," came Sesshoumaru's voice, once again with the usual silent arrogance.


	5. A Little More Inquisition

By now it was midday, the sun was shinng brightly on the lake, and Rin and gone off to find something to eat. Sesshoumaru had sent Jaken to make sure she didn't run into any trouble. Kanai was taking this apparent free time to take a pleasant swim in the cooler end of the lake, away from the springs. When she returned to the shore, she noticed Sesshoumaru staring at her intently.  


"You know, its very impolite to stare," she stated dryly.

"I was noticing the markings on your face," the demon lord quickly responded, 

"You say your father was a human, does that leave me to assume that your mother was a demon?" Inquired the demon lord. 

"Yes?" came Kanai's answer, "why do you ask?"

"Those markings on your face and extremities, I think I have seen them before, on a demon who was quite close to my father. Tell me, what was your mother's name?" He asked. 

"Kanatia," she answered. 

Her voice was different now, it was softer, as if she were talking with an old fried.  


"I thought as much. It seems my father wasn't the only noble among demon ranks who favored humans." Sesshoumaru retorted. 

"No, I can think of three right off hand," Kanai said, glancing in the direction of Rin and Jaken who were returning from their search for food. 

"Careful hanyou," said the demon lord, my tolerance for you is not that quite that strong." 

"My name is Kanai," she reinformed him "and I am sorry, I didn't mean to strike a nerve." 

"Am I also inclined to assume you are pursuing Naraku?" Sesshoumaru asked, changing the subject. 

"Yes," Kanai dryly answered.

Rin and Jaken saw them conversing as they stepped into the clearing. 

"I think we should go that way," said Rin to Jaken. 

His reaction to this was initially in the negative, but Rin told him she wanted to know more about Lord Sesshoumaru's brother, and that she knew that he would be displeased to hear them speaking of him. In actuality, she had heard enough bits and pieces from the toadish's many attempts to tell that particular tale that she had a good idea what InuYasha was like, at least from Jaken's point of view.  


"So tell me, what do you plan to do when you find him?" the demon lord continued his inquisition. 

"I plan to kill him! Now can _we_ drop t?" Kanai was becoming annoyed with the conversation. 

"We might, but _I_ am not finished. How long ago did your father fight this demon who apparently killed him?" 

Sesshoumaru surprised her with his sudden assertiveness. She was not offended however, so she told him that it had been several months ago, almost a year. 

"I see . . . " said the demon lord in response. He took a moment to think. 

"That places the incident shortly before my brother was released from the tree. Interesting," He thought to himself  


"I think it would interest you to know that my younger half brother, who is also a hanyou, has been searching for Naraku for about the same amount of time, perhaps a little less, with the same goal if I am not mistaken. In any case, he would be most disappointed if you were to kill naraku rather than him."

There was a certain calmness to his voice as he said this. It made the hanyou a bit unsure. Kanai took a moment to absorb this new information. It had suddenly become apparent to her why exactly the demon lord was so inquisitive about to her motives. She contemplated asking sesshoumaru about his brother but decided against it, noting the way his tone slightly fell negative as he spoke of him. 


	6. An Invotation

Rin had drifted into an afternoon nap, and Jaken was mumbling something to himself as he kept Ah and Un company. Things had grown quiet and Sesshoumaru was growing anxious. 

"We have lingered here for far too long," he thought. 

Kanai had gone to soak in the hot spring once more. She didn't care really that Sesshoumaru and Jaken were still near. Mostly Because Jaken was far from bold enough to try and peak at her, and Sesshoumaru was too off into his own little world to really pay a great amount of attention. Though she did wander what he was thinking about.

  
  
The demon lord sat under a tree near the edge of the clearing.

"This is by far the least productive of days," he thought.

His thoughts were interrupted when Jaken came stumbling in his direction.

"My lord, how long do you plan to linger here at this lake?" the toadish asked.

His tone seemed impatient.

"We will be departing shortly," the demon lord announced.

Jaken let out a sigh of relief, and went to inform Rin, who was now awake and munching some fruit she had found earlier that mooring.

Though modesty was never one of Kanai's strongest attributes, she was a bit unnerved to look up and see Sesshoumaru looming over her in the spring.

"Make your self decent, I need to speak with you," he instructed.

"You may speak with me as I am," she retorted. A little irritated.

"As you wish," came his reply.

"We will be departing soon, if you are serious in your plight to destroy Naraku then I would assume you're not just going to linger at this spring," he continued.

"A reasonable assumption, actually, the only reason I am still hear is because you and Rin are." Kanai dryly stated.

"Me?" Sesshoumaru thought.  
"In any case, when that sorceress confronted me yesterday evening, she revealed that she was using what she called Antinu Powder to cloud our senses of smell. She deducted that I, being a full demon was able to smell through the powder after a time. I didn't tell her that it had actually been Jaken who had alerted me to her scent," Sesshoumaru explained this, getting a questioning look from the hanyou.

"Well that's all quite interesting, but why are you telling me this?" She asked, still soaking.

Sesshoumaru was doing what he could to maintain eye-contact.

"I thought you might like to know what was going on between me and the being who's scent you seem to know so well." Sesshoumaru affirmed. "But the relevance is that she told me that the powder had worked flawlessly on my brother. That is what bothers me, something has happened to my brother involving Naraku." There was a pause.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, whenever you speak of your brother, your tone drops, as if you were ashamed to be related to him, yet now it would seem you are intentionally going out of your way to help him," said Kanai.

To this, Sesshoumaru gave no reply. There was another pause, and the demon lord noticed Rin and Jaken approaching.

"Kanai, will you join us? Naraku is powerful, his methods of deception are beyond compar."

There was a long silence after the demon lord finished. The Great Lord Sesshoumaru, usually a demon of very few words had just emptied his thoughts to this insolent yet, remarkably beautiful hanyou. Jaken would surely have had something to say had rin not quieted him. Kanai was herself, rather in shock. She had never expected something like this from the noble, yet arrogant demon lord known as Sesshoumaru.

"Is ths a plea for aid?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"No, it is an invitation, one that not even Rin received," said Sesshoumaru.

"Then in that case, I gladly accept."

With that the conversation ended the four of them, along with Ah and Un. Departed. Leaving the lake behind, they moved northwest, the direction of the village ware his brother was pinned to the tree so long ago.


	7. A Kit's Interrigation

Sesshoumaru, Kanai, Rin, and Jaken traveled for three uneventful days before reaching The Forest of InuYasha. The demons could smell his scent every where. Sesshoumaru had actually never been to the forest his brother had been sealed in. Quite frankly, he didn't care. At least if he did then he did a good job at not making it evident.

"My lord, this is the tree your brother was pinned to when I came to retrieve him to help you fight so long ago," Jaken spouted as they approached the god tree.

Neither Kanai nor rin heard the remark, for they were a few paces back, and the toadish didn't make the comment particularly loud. Sesshoumaru didn't respond, he could also smell the girl his brother traveled with, along with the rest of his weak human companions. But the scents were old, several weeks in fact. The demon lord and his groupies were just about to move on when Kanai caught the scent of something recent. It was the smell of a young fox.

The origin of the smell became apparent after she tripped over a rather large stone. Kanai wasn't stupid, she knew that stones didn't yell ouch when kicked, nor did they start to quiver in fear as a certain demon lord approached. Sesshoumaru started to reach for Tokijen when the stone suddenly transformed into young fox demon and dashed in the direction of the large tree that stood above the rest. The tree his brother was sealed to he concluded. Sesshoumaru did not speedily peruse the kit, but rather he strode confidently in the direction he ran. Kanai and the shorter half of the group promptly followed.

"Oh No! Oh No! What am I gonna do?" Said Shippou aloud.

He had fled from Sesshoumaru and up into the God Tree, hoping Sesshoumaru wouldn't find him. But the kit knew better and he knew that the demon lords sense of smell would locate him. Sure enough, Shippou saw approaching from the direction he had just ran, a regal looking dog demon, followed by another dog demon he didn't recognize, and two short cronies that he knew were associates of Inuyasha's brother. The poor kit was scared stiff. Sesshoumaru was just about to persuade the kit out if the tree when he was interrupted by an elderly voice from behind.

"Who are you who feel so compelled to peruse young Shippou?" The voice asked.

"Who are you, who dare intrude on matters that do not concern you?" came Sesshoumaru's reply.

Before an answer was presented, an elderly priestess stepped forth from behind some trees.  
Though she had never seen Inuyasha's brother before, she had heard of him from Kagome and the others. When she spotted the boa on his shoulder, and lack of a right arm, the priestess knew she was gazing upon the aristocratic brother of InuYasha.

"My name is Kaede," the priestess informed as she loaded her bow.

Sesshoumaru took a step in her direction and she shot the arrow directly at his head. But the demon effortlessly caught it between his first two fingers, and darted it into the ground at Kaede's feet. Without breaking eye contact, she reloaded and reaimed her bow. She knew it would be futile to try and shoot him again though. The forest was quite. The old priestess and the demon lord staring intently at one another, waiting for one to break the silence. Neither knowing why the other was there.

They stood that way for several minutes. During which time Rin ran off to find the kit, and Kanai walked back to the God Tree to try and put together their reason for being there.Kaede was perplexed.

"Why dose not he strike?" She thought. "Surely he knows I am no match for him."

The demon lord finally broke the stillness.

"Ware is the kitsune child old woman?" He asked cooly. Kaede's arm was fast becoming tired from holding the arrow in the bow taut in the string.

"What business have you with young shippou?" She asked the demon lord.

Not really expecting an answer. But Sesshoumaru could think of no reason not to answer the priestess and so he told her that he recognized him as one of his brother's companions.

"I have received unclear news of my brother, and I feel compelled to investigate," he also said.

Kaede took in this information for a moment before responding...


	8. No Avail

Kanai wandered Inuyasha's Forest. She found herself strangely at ease beneath the tall tree that stood above the rest.

"This tree is ancient," she thought allowed.

Her mind wandered. She wandered why they were here, and she wandered about Sesshoumaru's brother. The demon lord rarely spoke of his brother, and she noticed that neither Rin nor Jaken ever brought him up when in his presence. She also noted the coldness of Sesshoumaru's tone when ever he did speak of him. It was quite apparent that Sesshoumaru and his InuYasha were not on good terms, yet every thing she had gathered indicated that it was him were searching for. She figured it would be wise not to ask about him, but that didn't render her curiosity.

Rin could see the kit in the top of the tree, but she couldn't climb up, and he seemed too scared to reply to her calling. And In spite of the noise she was making, Kanai seemed oblivious to Rin's presence on the other side of the tree.

"Lady Kanai" Rin said, "the kit is in the top of the tree."

Startled, Kanai stood up and told Rin not to scare her like that.

Shippou was staring down at the two females beneath him.

"That's the girl who travels with Sesshoumaru, but whos that other demon?" Shippou thought out lowed.

"Fox-child, I am but a hanyou, my name is Kanai. You will come to no harm if you come down." She told him.

Shippou thought for a moment and decided he was safer in the tree.

"I think I will take my chances up hear," came the kit's voice from much higher up.

Kanai rolled her eyes and jumped into the tree grabbing the unsuspecting Shippou by the tail and returning to the ground.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me!" Shippou wailed as they landed.

Kanai informed him he was not hurt as she sat him on the ground, assuming he wasn't going to try and escape.

Noticing that he was actually less harmed by Kanai's carrying him by the tail than he normally was when InuYasha did it, Shippou decided she really wasn't going to hurt him.

"I'm confused," Shippou confessed as he stood up and looked around.

"And why is that?" The hanyou asked.

"Because every time we have come into contact with Sesshoumaru before, there has been a battle and Sesshoumaru says that he hates humans, and that InuYasha is a disgrace because he's a hanyou, but now it would seem that he travels with you, a hanyou, and her, a human." He explained.

"I see," kanai said with a look of puzzlement on her face.

That did indeed sound like the Sesshoumaru she had heard of, but not quite the Sesshoumaru she had met. Kanai then took a moment to shake her head no at Rin who she could see was fighting an urge to grab Shippou's tail.

"I really don't know how to explain it to you, since he has never really displayed any feelings of hatred towards me or Rin in the time I have known him, just slight distaste." Kanai was now speaking to the fox-child in the tone she usually used with Rin.

"I think I might know why" Shippou said, "because you are very pretty and maybe Sesshoumaru notices."

"Thank you, but I don't think that's it" Kanai said, starting to blush. "I have only been traveling with him for a short while."

"Oh." Was all that shippou said in reply.

The three of them. Rin Shippou, and Kanai proceeded back to ware they last saw Sesshoumaru. When they entered the clearing, they saw the demon lord sitting and listening to what Keade knew about his brother's whereabouts. Apparently, the girl called Kagome. Who Sesshoumaru suspected was his brother's bitch )meant literily, as in female dog(, was back in her time with InuYasha, and the other two humans he traveled with were off on their own somewhere. The kit, Shippou was obviously left here with the old priestess.

"Kagura must have been lying when she told me the antinu powder had been effective on Inuyasha." He thought. Sesshoumaru told the priestess that he still wanted to find out what the kit knew, because he is usually with InuYasha, therefor would have some idea of why he had gone with the girl through the well. Perhaps Kagura was not lying, and his brother was injured, and was seeking refuge on the other side. But Kaede knew that sesshoumaru knew next to nothing about the well, or ware it went. And she told him as much. Shippou heard the demon lord say he wanted to speak with him and he instinctively wanted to run away. But a glace at Kanai between him and his escape route caused him to reason that he was better off standing still.

Sesshoumaru began to stride in the direction of the young kitsune, when out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of waving fan.

"Kanai! Take rin and the kit into the forest!" he said, almost shouting.

Ah and Un followed making sure they were safe.

"Something is very wrong here" Sesshoumaru thought.

Before the words left his tong, the crescent shaped blades of wind came soaring in the direction of Kanai and the two children, only to b dissipated by a lightning blast from Ah. Jaken was caught completely off gourd by the sudden urgency.

"Sorry Lord Sesshoumaru," came Kagura's mocking voice, "Naraku told me not to let you find out too much too quickly."

The demon lord suddenly become aware that it was the kit she was after, the kit who was with Rin and Kanai.

Kagura approached the edge of the tree-line, and her quarry, only to received a flaming spew from the toadish's staph. Thought somewhat simple, he wasn't stupid and he cut off the flames before she could send them back in his direction. The wind sorceress was caught off gourd by the flames and her kimono was singed. But what she expected even less was to be attacked by an angry hanyou. Kanai leapt and swiped, barely missing the face of Naraku's detachment.

"I despise the smell of you!" Kanai screamed as she brought her arm back for another swing.

Kanai was a bit surprised when she was thrown back by a gust from Kagura's fan. And all the while, Jaken was wildly flaming every thing in the vicinity. Kagura escaped on her feather, leaving the group dazed and confused. Their confusion was gone when they spotted Shippou laying face down in the grass.

"Sesshoumaru sama is the dead?" Rin asked.

The demon lord disliked the pleading look in her eyes.

"No," he said, bending down to check the poor kit's vitals. "But I doubt he will be telling us anything any time soon."

Apparently as kagura was leaving, she fanned a different something at the fox-child, rendering him inert.


	9. Sparring Session

Sesshoumaru entered the village, followed by Kanai, who was caring the out-cold Shippou. the demon lord strongly disliked being surrounded by so many humans, and the villagers themselves had a mixture of reactions concerning demons in their midst. But no one said anything. Kaede hadn't taken a great deal of notice to Kanai earlier, she had just assumed her to be another noble demon like Inuyasha's brother. But now, seeing as to how it was she who was carrying Shippou, whom the priestess was quite fond, the old woman took a moment to eye this young hanyou.

"You are but a half demon. Am I correct in this assumption?" She asked.

"Yes," Kanai answered shortly.

"I see, tell me, what has happened to young Shippou?" The old woman replied.

Her voice was now calm and steady, but in her mind, Kaede was quite confused.

"This is a somewhat different demon than the one described by Kagome and the others."

Kanai sat the kit down on the floor of Kaede's hut ware the old priestess looked him over. She told them that she didn't know what was making him sleep.

"I know not what is stirring with your brother Lord Sesshoumaru, he and Kagome departed without saying a word to anyone. I know only that he is at present in the future with Kagome. But if Naraku is indeed plotting something, it would be unwise for you to linger hear for the time it would take for Shippou to wake," she told them.

With out a word Sesshoumaru departed.

"Please, forgive his rudeness," Kanai said as she stood to follow him.

"Kanai," Kaede said, catching the hanyou just before she got out the doorway. "Do you know why Sesshoumaru seeks his brother?"

"No, I don't, all I know is that it has something to do with what that wind whore said." She answered.

"Strange, it has been my impression that the two were bitter foes." The priestess said in reply.

Kanai noted the slight confusion on her tone.

"And ware did you get that impression?" Kanai asked, now equally confused.

"From Inuyasha." The old woman said dryly.

Kaede then motioned for the hanyou to depart with Sesshoumaru.

"My lord," said Jaken, "you entered the humane village, why?"

Sesshoumaru hesitated for a moment. He didn't like being in the presence of so many humans, and wasn't certain how to explain his motives to the toadish without bringing forth more questions. In the end he simply decided not to.

"I don't feel the need to explain myself to you," he said in an attempt to quiet the annoying imp.

"Of corse my lord, please forgive me" Jaken whined, as the three met up with Rin.

"Is the kit all ok?" She asked impatiently.

Sesshoumaru disliked the scared tone in her usual cheery voice. As he was disliking so many other things this day.

"Yes he is ok, but he is still not awake and we must be moving on." The demon lord assured the young girl.

He was really becoming annoyed with the questioning. He was saying all of this as he continued to stride in the direction they were apparently heading.

The group continued on for several more uneventful days. During which Jaken explained to Kanai his version of who Inuyasha was, and the extent of his and Sesshoumaru's relationship. She heard him out and payed attention, but in the end she decided she would rather find out for herself.  
One evening they had come to a waterfall on the river they had been following. Rin was tired, and Ah and Un needed to rest as well. So they decided to settle there for the evening.  
Sesshoumaru seemed annoyed, though the rest of the group wasn't sure why, he seemed anxious.

"Kanai," the demon lord said. "Have Jaken and Rin fallen asleep yet?

"Yes?" She said questioningly.

"Then please, would you follow me." He asked.

Without a word, Kanai followed Sesshoumaru out of the trees about a mile into a grassy field.  
Sesshoumaru knew exactly why he had brought the hanyou there, and what he intended to do. Kanai on the other hand was for the most part oblivious. Without any warning, he came at her with the claws on his remaining hand. Kanai was struck with utter surprise and disbelief as she, with some effort, dodged the attack. Before she could regain her footing, she had to dodge another swipe, but rather than just keep herself from being hit, she swung back, only to catch a had full of air.

"Sesshoumaru! What the hell are you doing?!" He heard her scream.

"Don't speak. Come at me" was all he replied.

Taking his invitation, she quicky oriented herself into an attack position. Now Kanai was on the offensive, lunging, swiping, and kicking. Yet never landing a blow to her opponent.  
Every now and then he would make an offensive maneuver, simply to see how she would react. But for the most part the demon lord just dodged her seemingly blind kicks and punches.

"Her fighting technique is far too reminiscent of that of my brother" Sesshoumaru thought.

Try as she might, Kanai couldn't lay a finger on him. She had however figured out why they were hear and what he was doing. Sesshoumaru was testing her. She knew that if he really wanted to kill her than he would have done so a long time ago. She also deduced that the reason he wasn't using Toukijin was because he didn't want to seriously harm her.


	10. Blood ties

Sesshoumaru was actually incorrect in his previous assumption that Kanai was just blindly charging. In actuality _she _was in fact testing Sesshoumaru, Studying his every move as he dodged her attacks. But she really was trying to hit him as she did this. Finally the demon lord was becoming boored. He sent forth a barrage of offensives which cought the hanyou off guard. But she did a back flip, catching herself on one foot and thrusting forward with the other, thus parrying his attack. Her swing had missed, but that time she honestly didn't want it to. As Sesshoumaru dodged the attack, she watched ware his attention was most focused, her approaching fist. She now stood with her back to the demon lord, waiting for his next attack. Sesshoumaru came at her with speed and elegance, yet she still stood completely still. The demon lord was suspicious of this, but it was too late to break off his offensive. Finally within striking range, he sent forth a clean swipe in the direction of the hanyou's head. But at the last second, she ducked, rolled, and was behind him, letting forth a kick with her left foot. As Sesshoumaru dodged the kick, Kanai, with the opposite hand, swiped four slashes across his cheek.

"Enough!" He said, ending the sparing session. They had been going at it for about 20 minuets, but to them it seemed like hours had elapsed. Both were exhausted, though Sesshoumaru showed no sign of it.

"You were really gonna hit me that last time weren't you!" The hanyou shouted.

"If you hadn't dodged it, then yes" was all the demon lord said in reply.

Kanai backed against a tree as he approached. He placed his remaining palm beside her head and Leaned in very close. Quite surprised, she at first thought he was going to try and kiss her.

"I knew you would be able to dodge it" he said, then backed off.

She was actually a bit disappointed.

Although his voice was calm, Sesshoumaru's mind was racing. Were his hanyou brother had failed at nearly every attempt, this female had managed to land a clean swipe across his face, and he had four slashes across his left cheek to prove it.

"I'm impressed, I have fought my brother on several occasions, and even he has never managed to land a swing of that nature on _ME_." He said.

Then, out of the blue Kanai asked: "Sesshoumaru, what is the relationship between you and your brother Inuyasha?"

The demon lord was caught even more off guard by Kanai's question than he was by her slashing his face.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he explained his blood ties.

_My brother, InuYasha, is a hanyou like yourself. Born of my father, whom I hold in the highest respect, and a human noble woman. My father died protecting InuYasha and his mother, and for that I shun him, and have even tried to kill him._

"You tried to kill him simply because he is a hanyou and because you father died protecting him!?" She interrupted.

"If you would let me finish..." Even as he was explaining this, he couldn't reason to himself why he was doing so. It wasn't any of her business. But he continued none the less. _The majority of our battles have been over the heirloom my father left to Inuyasha rather than myself. From his fangs my father commissioned the smith Totosai to forge two swords, the Tenseiga, and the Tetsuaiga. To my brother he left the Tetsuaiga, which can slay 100 demons in one stroke, and the Tenseiga, which is useless in battle, to myself. But our battles seem to come to an end of recent, because I had forged from the teeth of Goushinki, a demon that bit Tetsuaiga in half, the sword Toukijin, Which I currently wield.  
Indeed, InuYasha nearly killed me on our most recent conflict, and as you already know, it was he who is responsible for my lack of an arm. I must admit that it was I who was the antagonist on both occasions._

_   
  
_Kanai was slightly amazed and very confused all at once. In the time she had known the demon lord, which granted was only a short time, she had never guessed him to be an individual to open up and reveal so much about himself or his family, though he never mentioned his own mother. And indeed he wasn't a person who would normally do so. The hanyou was tempted to ask, but she decided against it, not wanting to push her luck.

"Sesshoumaru, now I am even more confused," she stated "if you bare such distaste for your brother, than why does it seem that we are looking to help him?"

"I, like yourself am looking for Naraku, and my intuition tells me that my brother knows ware he his, and Kagura would have us believe that he has been captured by Naraku, which I now know to be untrue. In any case, finding my InuYasha likely means finding out what Naraku is plotting, it's as simple as that.

"Lord Sesshoumaru what has happened to your face?" Jaken shouted as Kanai and the demon lord approached.

"Wake Rin." Sesshoumaru told him, ignoring the imp's question.

"We are Departing."

coming to the realization that he wasn't going to get an answer, the peeved toadish went to wake Rin, only to see that she was already awake and sitting atop Ah and Un. This only added to Jaken's annoyance, but there was nothing he could do to muffle his frustrations except go off ahead on his own and brood.

"Sesshoumaru, where did you pick up that irritating Toadish?" Kanai asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself? I am sure he would love to tell you." Sesshoumaru replied.

The hanyou thought a moment, and decided that she was going to do just that. As obnoxious as he was, Kanai disliked seeing Jaken so riled, and for no apparent reason. She figured giving him the opportunity to speak was sure to cheer him up. He seemed to like doing that she thought.  
The problem was that the toadish, who was normally never far from Sesshoumaru, was nowhere to be found. Kanai didn't put too much effort into searching for him. He seemed be disappearing like that a lot lately.

Jaken hadn't really gone far, the group had been following a river, and he was actually just ahead. The toadish decided to relieve some of his frustrations by roasting various small creatures that happened to be near.


	11. Kagura and The Flame

The rest of the group was still not certain exactly what it was that Jaken was so mad about. But the only one who seemed overly concerned was Rin.

"Sesshoumaru sama, what is it that you think Master Jaken is so upset over?" The girl asked from atop Ah and Un.

"I suppose he is concerned that my attention is a bit too distracted." He answered, glancing over at Kanai.

The semi peacefulness was abruptly ended when they saw Jaken running toward them as fast as his short legs could carry him, screaming "Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!" and trying to use his staph to fry the hoard of Hell Wasps perusing him.  
Once again Sesshoumaru was caught completely off guard, as was Kanai.

"This wind bitch is getting really annoying!" She yelled.

"What do you mean?" Sesshoumaru asked as he motioned for the beast to take Rin to safety.

"Normally one of us would have smelt those damn insects, which if I am correct are Naraku's Hell Wasps."

"Kagura must be near with that powder of hers" he finished for her.

The two of them made short work of the wasps, but there was something else amiss...

Jaken had gone with Ah, Rin, and Un. His panic was beginning to subside when he noticed something. Actually, Rin pointed it out. The forest was on fire, probably doe to Jaken's torching of everything. At this point the actual cause of the fire was irrelevant though. What was relevant was the fact that they were surrounded by flames, and they were closing in fast. 

Kanai and Sesshoumaru were also surrounded by flames at this point, but Sesshoumaru, using his strange mist was able to float above them.

"I am going to search for Rin and Jaken." Sesshoumaru said.

He was gone before she could respond, and there was something unfamiliar in his tone, it almost sounded like urgency. And what was even more peculiar was that Sesshoumaru had left Toukijin jammed in a stone.

"I never even saw him draw it" Kanai thought.

The flames were closing in fast and Jaken was frantic. "Dammit all!" He shouted. He was using his staph to spout water and extinguish the fires nearest him. Rin all of a sudden got an idea.

"Master Jaken" she yelled, her voice indicating she was on the brink of tears. "We can escape on Ah and Un."

"Of course!" The toadish thought.

The two of them climbed on the beast.

Kanai was now alone, surrounded by flames, and wielding Sesshoumaru's sword Toukijin. She was still confused as to how she had acquired it, but found she could extinguish the flames by swinging the sword through them. The hanyou wasn't too greatly concerned with the fire. What was bothering her was the fact that she was alone, and that she could feel in her bones that this had all been planned, thus was being monitored. Then she saw it, a tall orkish demon with long gnarly clawed fingers, and equally long pointed ears that were pierced many times. Flames exited its nostrils as it exhaled.

"That must be what caused the fire." She thought.

As this demon stepped toward her, it left glass footprints, where the earth beneath it would melt upon contact with the demon's skin. The last thing Kanai noticed about this fiery demon was a spider-shaped burn scar on its back. By now it was about four yards from her, and she decided that swiping at it would accomplish nothing but getting her burnt. So she raised Toukijin and violently swung it at the demon, but to no avail. The one time she actually did come close to striking the lightning fast demon, a wave of flames was let loose that actually forced the sword backswords.  
Kanai was certain of it now. This whole thing had been set up, and she was now alone to fight this creature. Something else was bothering the hanyou. Why would a demon that emits fire, and seems imperviable to extreme heat have a burn scar on it's back?  
The demon suddenly went on the offensive. Not only could it manipulate the flames in its surroundings, but it could also call forth more from the air. It was all Kanai could do to bring Toukijin up and extinguish them before she was incinerated. She maintained a defensive stance as she dodged the flames and blows being thrown at her.

The forest was still in flames, but the hanyou was now standing on a rock in the middle of the river. The demon was on the bank staring at her with an evil grin, exposing it's long pointed k-9s. Now Kanai was calm. She was analyzing the tactics of the demon. She thought she had figured out a way to defeat it. If Kanai could lure it into the water, than perhaps its control over the flames would diminish. She recalled Jaken's tale of how the smith Kaijinbou was destroyed by Toukijin's evil ora. Her hope was that this flame demon would be drawn to this evil.  
Sure enough, the demon of flames took a step into the water toward Toukijin, which was now jammed into the stone Kanai was standing upon. The moment the demon's foot touched the water, an explosion of steam erupted into air and the moisture solidified the demon's flesh. Kanai took the first opportunity to utterly destroy it.  
The moment the Toukijin struck the demon's body, the whole thing collapsed into ashes and all the flames around Kanai simply ceased to burn. She could smell Sesshoumaru and the others approaching, and she was dying to question him on why he had left his sword behind.

But she instead asked "Sesshoumaru, did you find Kagura?"

"Yes." He answered as Ah and Un landed "we had a few words, and she fled like a coward.

"I see... may I inquire as to what words you had?"

"No, I am in no mood for an interrogation, and we must be going, quickly" was the only answer he gave.

Kanai tried to get a description of what was going on from Jaken, but all she got was an insult and a cold shoulder. 


	12. Commishioning of a sword

They were moving and making good pace because rather than traveling on foot as they usually were, Kanai and the now sleeping Rin were riding Ah and Un, and Jaken was beside Sesshoumaru on his mist.

"I recognize this hell hole!" Jaken announced "this is where that senile old fool Totosai lives. "

They had been traveling since mid afternoon. It would soon be dusk. Jaken expected to be sent to announce their arrival, but instead they landed and the group entered Totosai's cave. The smith was not surprised to see Sesshoumaru, he had seen him approach, but the sight of Kanai and Rin nearly caused him to hammer his hand.  
Rin, who had nearly talked poor Kanai's head off on their way there was now silent. She hadn't ever seen this place before, but she recalled Jaken's account of how he had burned his feet when he was there before.

"Sesshoumaru, I had heard you were harboring a humane child, but I didn't believe it. Even less am I inclined to believe you would allow a hanyou to follow you around." Totosai said as he stood up and approached the group.

He didn't bother to cower or attempt to escape like he normally would in the demon lord's presence. And Sesshoumaru was in no mood to goaded.

He stated as much, saying "Totosai! I came hear bearing no hostility, therefor I don't expect any." He said. "I have a favor to aks of you."

Totosai was a bit confused, all of his previous meetings with the demon lord had been very hostel indeed.

"I see you still carry the sword that the wretch, Kaijinbou forged." Sesshoumaru heard the smith say.

"Kaijinbou was a fool, and his fate was befitting, but the sword he forged serves its purpose, so I continue to use it." He dryly stated.

Kanai, Rin, and even Jaken were silent during Sesshoumaru and Totosai's conversation. The girls kept quiet due to the lack of anything to say, and Jaken didn't say anything because he knew upsetting the sword-smith would likely cause him to take off and refuse to aid his master.

"Tell me Sesshoumaru, other than the fact that you posses the ability to take my life with little effort, what gives you the notion that I would grant you, of all people a favor?"

upon saying this, Totosai was prepared to let loose a tremendous fire ball and escape, but he was surprised to hear the demon lord's reply.

"First off Totosai, I believe you will be pleased to know that I no longer think of the Tenseiga to be a useless sword, it has proved its worth on a few occasions." Sesshoumaru explained.

Jaken was familiar with the usefulness of the sword given to Sesshoumaru by his father, and was itching to describe to Totosai how it had saved Rin and himself, and how Sesshoumaru had used it to defeat the cat demon that proved to be so formidable. But he resisted.

"As I'm sure you have assumed, I wish for you to forge a sword. As I doubt you have guessed however, I don't want a sword for myself." the demon lord continued.

Now everyone except Sesshoumaru was confused. He had never told any of his groupies why they had come hear, and now they were finding out for the first time. Totosai couldn't even begin to fathom who Sesshoumaru would want a sword for.

"Would you care to elaborate on that a little Sesshoumaru?" the smith asked.

"Certainly, I want you to forge a sword from my left fang, for the lady who is standing beside me." He said, gesturing toward the hanyou.

Jaken was amazed and appalled at the same time. But still he said nothing, now for fear of offending Sesshoumaru.

"Jaken? Are you all right?" Sesshoumaru said with a minute grin, which alone was enough to make Jaken want to be elsewhere. "I expected you to have some inappropriate comment long before now."

Rin and Kanai both giggled at this, and the toadish finally spoke up.

"My lord, I simply cannot fathom why you would award a mere hanyou like her with a sword crafted from your very own fang. Such a sword would surly rival the Tetsuiga and Toukijin swords in sheer power!"

Upon hearing this both Sesshoumaru and Totosai let out a small chuckle. Seeing his master's grin, coupled with the sound of his laughter sent the poor toadish into an even deeper fright and he was beginning to feel ill.

"Clearly Jaken you underestimate the power of my father's fangs in comparison to my own." The demon lord said.

"Forgive me my lord" Jaken eplied, graveling.

"No Sesshoumaru, I will not forge a sword for YOU." Totosai said abruptly.

The demon lord's eyes narrowed and he expected a wave of flames to come streaming in his direction. But Totosai hadn't finished his statement.

"I will however craft a sword for the lady Kanai hear." He continued "If she asks it of me."

As he said this, Totosai eyed the hanyou, peering into her very essence.

"How did you know my name?" She asked.

"The markings on your face give away your lineage, they are very similar to the late Mistress Kanatia, and she was mother to only one child, who I knew to be a hanyou, such as your self. Narrowing it down was a simple task."

Kanai grinned, seeing as how this old smith had apparently known her mother.

"Well Totosai, you do have friends in prestigious positions." Sesshoumaru said flatly.

"Of corse I do!" The smith shouted. "Who else could forge a sword with the craftsmanship expected a noble among demon ranks?"

"Forge me a sword Totosai." Kanai commanded, preventing his upcoming rant.

"Yes my lady" He said, gathering his composure.

The three of them stepped out side to discus the sword Totosai was to make. Once they were seemingly out of earshot, Rin laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Jaken asked.

He was still flustered. Just that Lady Kanai could get the funny old man to make her a sword, and Lord Sesshoumaru couldn't." The young girl answered.

"Well I will have you know that..."

Jaken was cut off when Rin yelled "Lookie!" when a flash of light came through the entrance of Totosai's cave. They rushed out to see Sesshoumaru standing on three legs in his transformed state. Totosai stood on the great dog's jaw with his hammer and what appeared to be a giant pair of pliers.

"He is removing Sesshoumaru's left fang." Kanai informed them.

All three of them stared in wonder at Sesshoumaru in his true form. Even Jaken who had seen it before.  
Totosai told them that it would take roughly two weeks for him to complete the sword, and they agreed to wait that period of time in the forest at the edge of the brimstone crater.


End file.
